Summer Days, and Phone App Art

Oregon's High Deserts near Deschutes River

Since finishing a big move and getting my felting studio space set up. . .I have had absolutely no desire to continue my explorations of the Wooliverse for the moment.

I return to the topic repeatedly of creative play and recharging, and with that in mind, the glorious summer weather on the coast has pulled me out doors. I have a notebook over flowing with felting project ideas and sketches, but it has been so wonderful to play in the park and go to the beach, and soak up some sun and bird song.

Last week we celebrated a dear friend's big 30th birthday by joining him and his wife on the Deschutes River in Oregon for a boating, fly fishing, camping vacation.  I've never been anywhere in Oregon besides Portland and Eugene, so the "high desert" ecosystem was a treat. . .the big rugged landscapes reminded me, just a little, of Chilean Patagonia which was one of the inspirational cornerstone experiences for what I do with wool.  And though I couldn't tell you what kind of flora and fauna I was encountering, it smelled AMAZING!  What a great way to recharge and relax after a big move!

With our paints and canvases still packed, my wife found a wonderful creative outlet in making our Oregon friend a birthday present.  He shares our love of kumquats, and she made him an intensely tasty "kumquat cardamom marmalade."  Put this on a whole grain cracker with some Humboldt Fog chevre, and you are in heaven.

While I've put the felting projects on hold the last few weeks, I firmly believe that I'm healthier and happier if I can keep my sense of creative play flowing in whatever small ways I can.  Lately I have been hooked on using various phone apps to "finger paint" and sketch with, and it's the kind of creative play you can do anytime, anywhere.

Appropriate for Portland "put a bird on it."

The droid apps "Paint Joy" and "Sketch n Paint" have some impressive tool sets for sketching and painting, and it is very much like finger painting, though I almost prefer it on the phone because it is more like painting with light and you can get some really interesting and luminous images.

Since, to my knowledge, there are no really good comprehensive illustration and photoshop tools, what I do with my "phone app art" is to use multiple apps to open and work on the image, usually starting in Paint n Sketch, and moving back and forth between photo-editing and filter apps, then back to the drawing, painting and sketching apps, leaving behind a trail of up to eight saved versions of an image before the final, finished one. 

To the right, a little birdie, which goes nice with our Oregon trip (Just like on Portlandia, it's actually true, there are birds on everything there.)  Below is an abstract phone app painting I did called "Roots Unrooted." 

I hope to be back to posting soon about felting, but there's never an end to the opportunties for creative play, whatever the medium.

"Roots Unrooted" --a phone app painting